


The Noise Of This Place

by MidnightCity, mylady_lilith



Series: JJ Collab (2017) [5]
Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 04:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCity/pseuds/MidnightCity, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylady_lilith/pseuds/mylady_lilith
Summary: Jeremy screamed, shot up and immediately started to scramble around. He wasn't able to breathe. He knew that he had to, it was his duty. He couldn't give up now! His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark, he could barely make out anything around him. Where am I? Jeremy wondered.





	The Noise Of This Place

 

_Don't do this to me!_

 

_Keep walking._

 

_Keep going._

 

 

Jeremy screamed, shot up and immediately started to scramble around. He wasn't able to breathe. He knew that he had to, it was his duty. He couldn't give up now!

His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark, he could barely make out anything around him.

 _Where am I?_ Jeremy wondered. He didn't recognise the room that was starting to appear in front of his eyes. It wasn't his bunk, it wasn't his mother's house. It wasn't …

A sob escaped Jeremy. His body was trembling, as fear shot through him. He could feel himself starting to cry. He couldn't recall where he was. He couldn't remember what had happened. Worse was that he didn't know where James was.

Had he failed? Had he been unable to bring him back into safety? _Why can't I remember?_

“Jezza?” Jeremy heard the familiar voice behind him. It was James. He sounded tired, but he was okay. He was alive. A sob escaped Jeremy, as he felt relief overshadow the fear for a fleeting moment.

James' arms wrapped around him, and he held Jeremy tightly; steadying him. Jeremy knew that it should be the other way around: he was supposed to be the strong one. Otherwise they would never get out of here alive …

  


_Are you all right? Please tell me you're not hurt._

  


James was slowly pulling him back onto the ground, wanting him to lie down. “No,” Jeremy muttered. “But don't let go.”

He didn't know how James had the strength, but he held Jeremy as if his life depended on it. At the moment, Jeremy felt like James was the only lifeline he had ever had.

 _How did James do it with his shoulder injury?_ He hadn't even been able to lift his hand to hold a gun … and now.

Jeremy covered James' hand which was resting above his heart. He let out a deep breath, as he slowly realised that they were safe. This was all that should matter for now: they were safe.

Jeremy's finger brushed his chest. A gasp escaped him as he realised what was missing … “Where ...” _are my tags?_

Jeremy didn't finish the sentence out loud. Had they been ripped off while they had beaten him to get information?

 _No, they never do that. This doesn't make sense. Nothing here makes any sense!_ Jeremy shook his head, noticing for the first time that the ground underneath him was soft. He was not lying on a dirt floor. He was in a bed. Had they escaped?

“Do you know where we are?” James asked quietly as he gave him another squeeze.

Jeremy shook his head, but before he knew it he could hear himself reply, “Witney.”

James nodded. “Very good.”

  


_Run before they kill both of us!_

  


“We're in Britian,” Jeremy whispered as realisation dawned on him.

  


_NO!_

  


Jeremy sobbed loudly, a new burst of tears making his way down his cheek. They had made it out alive! Both of them. Jeremy couldn't recall how. Everything was blurred. He remembered disobeying orders, running away to find James. He remembered the fear he had felt, James' anger, and the tears in his eyes as James realised that he might not die alone. At least they'd have each other …

  


_I won't leave you._

  


“Not Syria,” Jeremy told himself in a whisper.

The memory of James' dirty face and the tears in eyes as he towered above Jeremy, slowly disappeared again.

“No, not Syria,” James reassured him.

Instead the imagine was replaced by their bedroom. For the first time he seemed to notice the floral prints on the wall. The world seemed to come back into focus again.

He felt James' hand on his back, drawing circles as Jeremy mumbled his under his breath: “Witney, Oxfordshire, England. Great Britain, Europe … ” It drew him back to the real world, so he continued. “ … Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson. Born in Doncaster. 1960. Colonel. I was dishonourable discharged after disobeying a direct order and …” Jeremy's voice had gone quiet by the end.

Jeremy remembered the General standing at his bedside. “This was highly unprofessional. A man in your position has to act as a role model ...” Jeremy hadn't paid attention to the rest. He hadn't been worried for his career. He had stopped caring about this. Instead he had looked behind the General seeing James sleeping soundly in another hospital bed. _Safe._

“James Daniel May,” Jeremy mumbled under his breath. “Born 1963 in Sheffield. Lieutenant Colonel. My best friend and my partner. On medical leave due to a shoulder injury ...” _He won't recover enough for active duty but we don't talk about it._

Jeremy turned around, looking at James. He had let his hair grow out since they had left the army. Jeremy ran his hand through it and tucked a strand behind his ear. A small smile spread across their lips.

“Are you okay?” James asked carefully.

Jeremy thought about the question.

They had gone through hell and back, only to end up in a snug house in the middle of England. Jeremy had never thought that he would make it here. He had always believed that he would die in a war. When he had felt his body slowly bleeding out from the inside he had thought that he would die because of love, this had felt right to him.

And yet here he was, and while this felt strange, it felt right as well.

“Yes,” Jeremy mumbled, and felt a tear form in the corner of his eye.

James gently reached for his face and wiped it away.

Finally they could learn how to be at peace. Both knew that it would not be easy, sometimes the walls closed in and the noise became too loud. At the same time Jeremy knew that he could conquer the world with James by his side.

Jeremy cupped James' face, their lips brushing slightly. Jeremy was aware that James was testing the ground, and so he leaned in and kissed James instead. It was all he had ever wanted.

  


“ _We make it together, or not at all,” was the last thing Jeremy had heard before passing out. His body had finally given in, the inner bleeding from getting beaten becoming too dangerous. It had slowly destroyed him from the inside. He had done it out of love, he had done the right thing. It was right._

_James had screamed at him, begging him to keep breathing, and ordering himself to keep walking as he carried him back behind friendly lines …_

  


“I'll love you constantly,” Jeremy muttered after the kiss.

“And I you.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Again consider giving the artwork a[ ♥ on tumblr ](https://malfuria.tumblr.com/post/165193056417/jezza-jeremy-heard-the-familiar-voice-behind):)


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